Apparatus for orienting bowling pins and separating the ball and pins

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for orienting bowling pins and separating the ball from the pins has a rotating disk which lies at a slight angle to the horizontal and which is surrounded by a non-rotatable collar formed at the low side of the disk with an aperture. The width of the aperture is less than the distance from the light pin end to the pin&#39;&#39;s center of gravity and less than the distance from this center of gravity to the heavy pin end so that pins traveling around the inside of the collar due to the disk rotation will fall out through the aperture if they are traveling heavy end first. For the other pins a catch plate is provided which reverses their leading ends so that they can drop out on their next passage past the aperture. A deflector is provided spaced above the disk by a distance smaller than the ball diameter and greater than the pin thickness to guide balls into a raisable seat in the disk&#39;&#39;s center. A hydraulic cylinder can raise this seat and displace the ball from the seat in the raised condition into a ball-return chute.

United States Patent Kleineaschoff et al. 1 Dec. 5, 1972 1541 APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING 3,208,748 9/1965 Wyatt ..273/49 BOWLING PINS AND SEPARATING 3,256,017 6/1966 Dowd et a1 ..273/43 R THE BALL AND PINS *f [72] Inventors: Josef Klelneaschott; Brunhllde Pnmary Examiner-Anton Oechsle Kleineaschofl, both of Sendenhorst,

l mmmmn Attorney-Karl F. Ross [5 7] ABSTRACT An apparatus for orienting bowling pins and separating the ball from the pins has a rotating disk which lies at a slight angle to the horizontal and which is surrounded by a non-rotatable collar formed at the low side of the disk with an aperture. The width of the aperture is less than the distance from the light pin end to the pins center of gravity and less than the distance from this center of gravity to the heavy pin end so that pins traveling around the inside of the collar due to the disk rotation will fall out through the aperture if they are traveling heavy end first. For the other pins a catch plate is provided which reverses their leading ends so that they can drop out on their next passage past the aperture. A deflector is provided spaced above the disk by a distance smaller than the ball diameter and greater than the pin thickness to guide balls into a raisable seat in the disks center. A hydraulic cylinder can raise this seat and displace the ball from the seat in the raised condition into a ballreturn chute.

10 Claims, 5 Drawing Fimlres 2 TO PIN SETTER PA'IENTEDHEB mm 3,704,888

sum 1 OF 2 J. KLEINEASCHOFF B. KLEINEASCHOFF F I o 3 INVENTORS I BY y'arl Ross ATTORNEY PATENTED DEC 5 3. 704,888

SHEET 2 BF 2 FIG.2B

J. KLEINEASCHOFF B. KLEINEASCHOFF INVENTORS.

/ BY marl g R ATTORNEY APPARATUS FOR ORIENTING BOWLING PINS AND SEPARATING THE BALL AND PINS FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a pin-and-ball sorting and pin-orienting apparatus for bowling installations with automatic pin-setting and ball return devices. More particularly this invention relates to an apparatus for separating the bowling ball from a plurality of knockedover and disordered pins and for subsequently orienting the pins in a chute with their heads pointing in the same direction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In modern bowling equipment, automatic devices are provided at the ends of the alleys to collect the knocked-over pins along with the ball, sort the ball from the pins, and set the pins up again in the desired ninepin or tenpin arrangement. The ball is returned to the bowler at the other end of the alley along a chute or channel running parallel to the alley.

Generally, each alley has its own sorter which also must serve to orient the pins. These pins naturally fall over the back of the alley onto a shelf in complete disorder so that, before they can be loaded back into the pinsetter, they must at least be oriented so that their heads all point in the same direction. To this end expensive and complicated equipment has been used heretofore usually based on a conveyor belt which has various sensors and flippers for detecting upside-down pins and turning them over. In some arrangements all of the pinsare placed on end by the device and then moved along a guide over which the upside-down pins fall. All such devices are bulky.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for the above described general purpose.

Another object is the provision of a pin-and-ball sorting and pin orienting device which is relatively inexpensive to produce, is of simple and troublefree construction, and which takes up a relatively small amount of place.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Theabove objects are attained according to the present invention by an apparatus which comprises a tilted rotating disk surface surrounded by a nonrotating collar formed at the low side of the disk with an aperture. A bowling pin is usually bottom-heavy, with its center of gravity located closer to its base than to its top; this feature is used by the present invention in that the aperture has a width intermediate the distance from the center of gravity to one end and from this center to the other. At the same time catch means is provided so that as the disk is rotated the pins thereon are displaced outwardly and ride around the inside of the collar. Because of the dimensions of the aperture those pins which travel around the collar with their heavy ends (the end closer to the center of gravity) first will drop out through the aperture and those traveling with their light ends (further from the center of gravity) will bridge the aperture, and slide past it while being reversed by the catch so that on the next pass their heavy ends will lead and they will drop off the disk, heavy end first.

Such an apparatus is extremely simple and orients the pins all in the same direction with a single moving part and no complicated orientation detectors and the like. At the same time the pins are oriented with virtually no possibility of error in the very limited space behind the alley.

According to another feature of the present invention a ball-sorter is arranged in the center of the disk. This sorter comprises a seat located at the center of rotation of the disk and a deflector arranged above the disk at a spacing greater than the thickness of the pins and smaller than the diameter of the ball. In this manner as the disk rotates the pins move outwardly by centrifugal force as described above, passing freely under the deflector, while the ball is guided by this deflector into the seat. Means is provided to lift this seat and displace the ball out of it into the ball-return chute of the alley. To this end the seat is annular and planar, lying at an angle to the horizontal so that the ball is dumped out of it always in the same direction.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other objects, features, and advantages will become apparent from the following, reference being made of the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section through an apparatus according to the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B (sheet 2) show in a top view the apparatus of FIG. 1 orienting a pair of pins in two separate stages;

FIG. 3 (sheet 1) is a detail of FIG. 1 showing the ball sorter and unloader in operation; and

FIG. 4 (sheet 1) is a detail similar to that of FIG. 3 showing an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The apparatus shown in the Figures is intended for use with bowling pins 1 of the loose, unattached type, (i.e., where no wires or the like are attached to the pins), each having a center of gravity 9 spaced from their heavy end 10 by a distance b and from their light end 11 by a distance 0 greater than b. These pins have a diameter or thickness f and are used in conjunction with a ball 18 having a diameter e greater than f. The device is positioned in back of an alley so that the balls and pins fall onto it after each roll. After the sorting and orienting that will be described in detail below, the ball 18 is loaded into a chute 19 and the pins 1, in an oriented condition are fed into another chute 29 or onto a conveyor leading to the pin-setting device which sets up the next frame, by standing the pins in an upright condition and in the desired array at the end of the alley remote from the bowler. It is the task of the device according to the present invention to separate the ball 18 from the pins 1 and load it into the chute l9 and to discharge the pins 1 one-by-one and base first into the chute 29.

Thus, as shown in FIGS. 1 3 the apparatus has a circular disk 2 which lies in a plane including an angle 0: (alpha) of about 5 to the horizontal, whereby the axis A of rotation of the disk includes an angle of B of 5 with the vertical and is thus tilted relatively thereto. This disk 2 rides on bearings 3 on a flange 4' of a collar 4 which surrounds it and which does not rotate. A rubber wheel 32 frictionally engages the underside of the disk 2 so that a motor 32 connected to its shaft 33 can rotate this disk 2 about an axis A extending orthogonally to the disk.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show how the disk of table 2 is rotated'in a clockwise direction as seen from the top. The collar 4 is formed at the low side of the disk 2 with an opening 5 having an upstream edge 7 and a downstream edge 6. The upstream edge 7 is curved over at 12 to provide for gliding passage of a pin 1 as will be described below. A flipping or catch plate 3 is provided adjacent the downstream opening edge 6 which forms a very acute angle 7 (gamma) of less than l with a tangent T drawn to the disk 2 at a point P lying on a radius R extending through the plate 3. Thus the upstream edge 3' of the plate 3 defines with the upstream edge 7 of the opening an aperture 8 having a width a intermediate the dimensions b and c of the pin 1.

FIGS. 1 and 3 show that the disk 2 is formed at its center with a round hole 25 accommodating a cylindrical sleeve 16 extending vertically upwardly from a plate 23. A piston rod 21 carries at one end a piston 21' received in a hydraulic cylinder 22 energizable by a pump 34 and is provided with a flange 24 that is connected to the plate 23 by means of a stiff compression spring 24'. The piston rod 21 also passes through the plate 23 and is formed with a collar 21" that normally rests on the top surface of this plate'23. Above the collar 21" the rod 21 is provided with a rounded ram 35 adapted to be thrust upwardly against the underside of a ball 18 resting on the annular seat 20 formed at the top of the sleeve 16. These parts constitute a balldischarging device 13 along with a V-shaped deflector plate 14 each of whose legs extends generally radially with respect to the table 2 and at an angle to the vertical. This deflector has its apex just behind the hole 25 to guide balls onto the seat which itself is inclined at an angle 0 (theta) of about 5 to the horizontal, being inclined toward the ball-return chute 19 located above the apparatus. The deflector 14 is fixed above the table 2 by a distance d greater than the thickness f of the pins 1 but smaller than the diameter e of the ball 18.

Each time the pins 1 and the ball 18 fall from the end of the alley and onto the rotating disk 2, either as a result of the ball or as a result of the sweeping of the alley end by a gate which also protects the pin-setting area and device, the following takes place:

Centrifugal force produced by frictional entrainment of the pins with the disk and the rotation thereof, moves the pins 1 outwardly from the center of the disk 2 and causes them to come to bear against the inside of the collar 4. This collar 4 is preferably made of smooth metal and/or is coated with a low-friction material such as polytetrafluoroethylene while the surface of the disk 2 is covered with a softer material such as rubber or felt having a greater coefficient of friction so that the pins 1 are frictionally entrained clockwise around the inside of the collar. The constant rotation meanwhile advances the ball 18 into contact with the deflector 14 which leads it into the center and onto the seat 20. Since the pins 1 can pass easily under the deflector l4 and the ball 18 cannot, there is no interference by either with the other.

As shown in FIG. 2A, when a pin 1 arrives at the aperture 8 head or light end first, it cannot pass through since its center of gravity 9 remains supported by the collar 4 under centrifugal force or gravity until the pin 1 has bridged this aperture 8. Then the head 11 is caught between the plate 3 and the edge 6 and the pin 1 can no longer move normally counterclockwise. Because the greater coefficient of friction of the table 2 the pin is then pivoted on its head, as shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 2A, until its base 10 becomes its leading end and the head 11 is pulled away from the catch 3, thereafter the pin 1 continues to travel around the inside the collar 4 in the counterclockwise direction with its heavy or base end first leading. When this pin 1 again arrives at the aperture 8 :1 shown in FIG. 28 it passes therethrough since its center of gravity 9 passes the lip 7 before its base 10 is supported, so that it is loaded light side up into the chute 29.

Meanwhile the cylinder 22 is pressurized, e. g., by the timing device of the setter or means responsive to the weight of the ball on sleeve 16, so that the piston rod 21 raises. At first this causes the sleeve 16 to rise with the ball 18 firmly seated in the seat 20, until this ball is on a level with the ball-return chute 19. At this moment the plate 23 comes into engagement with the underside of the disk 2 and further upward motion of the sleeve 16 is stopped. Continued upward displacement of the rod 21, however, pulls the collar 21" out of contact with the upper side of the plate 23 and causes the spring 24' to become compressed between the plates 23 and 24 until the bumper 35 strikes the underside of the ball 18 and pushes it, directed by the tilted seat 20, into the chute 19. The spring 24 has a stiffness such that it is substantially incompressible by the weight of the ball but is compressed when the sleeve 16 engages an abutment. Hence it permits the ram to operate and acts as a return spring therefor.

FIG. 4 shows how another plate 26 extending horizontally under the disk 2 can be provided with an orifice 28 receiving the sleeve 16. The disk 2 here is provided with an enlarged hole 25 and a spacer 27 is mounted on the plate 26 next to the hole 28 on the side toward the chute 19. As the rod 21 rises the plate 23 strikes the spacer or abutment 27 and tilts the sleeve 16 to tip the ball 18 off its inclined seat into the chute 19. The ram need not be used if the tilt is sufficient although it is preferred to employ the ram as well.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for orienting like bowling pins each having a heavy end and a light end and a center of gravity located closer to the heavy end than to the light end, said apparatus comprising:

a rotatable pin-receiving disk inclined to the horizontal and having a lower side; nonrotatable collar surrounding said disk and formed at said lower side with an aperture having a pair of edges spaced apart in the direction of rotation of said disk and defining a width greater than the distance between the heavy end and the center of gravity of a pin and less than the distance between the light end and the center of gravity of a pm;

.numn A1 40 means for rotating said disk and thereby displacing pins lying thereon outwardly toward said collar and inducing pins to travel with one end leading along the inside of said collar whereby pins traveling with their heavy end s leading pass through said aperture; and

catch means on said collar proximal to the downstream edge of said aperture for engaging and reversing the leading ends of pins traveling along said collar with their light ends leading and failing to pass through said aperture.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said catch means is fixed catch plate forming with a tangent to a circle centered on the rotation axis of said disk an angle of less than 3. The apparatus defined in claim 2 wherein said collar is formed with an opening having an upstream edge and a downstream edge, said plate being located radially outside of said opening and adjacent to the downstream edge thereof and having an upstream edge constituting with the upstream edge of said opening the edges of said aperture.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 1 further comprising means, at the center of said disk for, sorting a ball from said pins.

5. The apparatus defined in claim 4 wherein also ball has a diameter greater than the pin thickness, the sorting means including a deflector plate arranged above said disk and directed toward the center of said disk and spaced from the disk by a distance greater than the pin thickness and less than the ball diameter.

6. The apparatus defined in claim 5 wherein said deflector is a substantially V-shaped plate having an apex adjacent the center of the disk.

7. The apparatus defined in claim 5 wherein said sorting means includes a ball-retum chute above said disk, a vertically displaceable seat displaceable between a down position substantially on a level with said disk and at the center of said disk and a lifted position above said disk and adjacent said chute, and means for vertically displacing said seat and for displacing a ball out of said seat in said lifted position and into said chute.

8. The apparatus defined in claim 7 wherein the lastmentioned means is an upright expansible cylinder having a cylinder rod with an upper end engageable with said ball in said seat.

9. The apparatus defined in claim 8 wherein said sorter means includes an upright cylindrical sleeve surrounding and displaceable relative to said rod and having an upper end forming said seat, a first abutment fixed on said rod below said sleeve, a compression spring between said abutment and said sleeve, and a second abutment above said first abutment and engageable with said sleeve to block upward motion thereof and compress said spring.

10. The apparatus defined in claim 9 wherein said second abutment lies below said disk. 

1. An apparatus for orienting like bowling pins each having a heavy end and a light end and a center of gravity located closer to the heavy end than to the light end, said apparatus comprising: a rotatable pin-receiving disk inclined to the horizontal and having a lower side; a nonrotatable collar surrounding said disk and formed at said lower side with an aperture having a pair of edges spaced apart in the direction of rotation of said disk and defining a width greater than the distance between the heavy end and the center of gravity of a pin and less than the distance between the light end and the center of gravity of a pin; means for rotating said disk and thereby displacing pins lying thereon outwardly toward said collar and inducing pins to travel with one end leading along the inside of said collar whereby pins traveling with their heavy end s leading pass through said aperture; and catch means on said collar proximal to the downstream edge of said aperture for engaging and reversing the leading ends of pins traveling along said collar with their light ends leading and failing to pass through said aperture.
 2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said catch means is fixed catch plate forming with a tangent to a circle centered on the rotation axis of said disk an angle of less than 10*.
 3. The apparatus defined in claim 2 wherein said collar is formed with an opening having an upstream edge and a downstream edge, said plate being located radially outside of said opening and adjacent to the downstream edge thereof and having an upstream edge constituting with the upstream edge of said opening the edges of said aperture.
 4. The apparatus defined in claim 1 further comprising means, at the center of said disk for, sorting a ball from said pins.
 5. The apparatus defined in claim 4 wherein also ball has a diameter greater than the pin thickness, the sorting means including a deflector plate arranged above said disk and directed toward the center of said disk and spaced from the disk by a distance greater than the pin thickness and less than the ball diameter.
 6. The apparatus defined in claim 5 wherein said deflector is a substantially V-shaped plate having an apex adjacent the center of the disk.
 7. The apparatus defined in claim 5 wherein said sorting means includes a ball-return chute above said disk, a vertically displaceable seat displaceable between a down position substantially on a level with said disk and at the center of said disk and a lifted position above said disk and adjacent said chute, and means for vertically displacing said seat and for displacing a ball out of said seat in said lifted position and into said chute.
 8. The apparatus defined in claim 7 wherein the last-mentioned means is an upright expansible cylinder having a cylinder rod with an upper end engageable with said ball in said seat.
 9. The apparatus defined in claim 8 wherein said sorter means includes an upright cylindrical sleeve surrounding and displaceable relative to said rod and having an upper end forming said seat, a first abutment fixed on said rod below said sleeve, a compression spring between said abutment and said sleeve, and a second abutment above said first abutment and engageable with said sleeve to block upward motion thereof and compress said spring.
 10. The apparatus defined in claim 9 wherein said second abutment lies below said disk. 